Success Stories

McKenzie’s Story

When McKenzie started Kindergarten, she struggled with learning. After repeating Kindergarten,

her parents decided to homeschool her because she still couldn’t read or write legibly. McKenzie knew every letter of the alphabet and each sound they made, but could not put them together and read them on a page. Her mother taught her how to read by using refrigerator magnet letter. Holding them in her hands, McKenzie’s brain was able to process by feel.

McKenzie went back to public school in 8th grade. Within one month she was diagnosed by the school as having dyslexia, but none of the special tools provided worked. She still couldn’t copy from the board, it still took her hours to complete a simple assignment, and she was failing school. Then her family changed Optometrists. Every prior year McKenzie had 20/20 vision, but the new doctor starting asking questions about school. McKenzie was diagnosed with a vision processing disorder and was sent to a Vision Processing Disorder specialist. In that first appointment one of the things discovered was that her peripheral was only .03%. Her whole world was like looking through a straw. After one month of vision therapy, her peripheral was already up to 95%.

It took a little over a year of weekly visits with the doctor, and daily exercises at home, but McKenzie is now a junior in high school and on the A Honor Roll. Her self-esteem soared, she is an avid reader, a very talented writer, and a walking testimony on how Vision Therapy can help children reach their full potential. It is because of this journey that her mother, Monica Miller – Founder and CEO of Let’s Overcome Vision Impairment, started this organization.

Mary’s Story

Mary was an excellent student prior to third grade. Then the teacher began calling home to report Mary’s struggles in math, spelling, handwriting and reading. She would reverse letters and numbers and make up words while she was reading. Her mother noticed that Mary was always exhausted after a day in school and didn’t want to play any sports or even play with friends. Homework was a constant battle. Mary visited the school nurse many times with complaints of blurry, watery eyes, and head and stomach aches. Neither the school vision screening nor the yearly pediatric physicals uncovered any vision problems. Mary read the eye chart and her vision was reported to be OK [20/20]. In the fall of 2001, Mary entered a program of Vision Therapy; as a result, her life is now very different. By the end of third grade, she was excelling once again in all subject areas. Mary’s teacher noticed a dramatic improvement in her daily performance and attitude, and reading had become a “pleasure” instead of a chore. Mary now went off to school willingly. There were no more daily battles to send her off, and she was not exhausted after school. Mary’s mom wrote, “there has been a dramatic change in Mary’s daily performance and attitude. Reading has become a pleasure instead of an unavoidable chore! Mary is excelling in all subject areas, including spelling (one of her worst!). I love Mary’s new self-confidence and positive attitude – she no longer calls herself or thinks of herself as ‘stupid’ and ‘the slowest in class’.”

Mikey’s Story

Mikey hit a wall-literally. While approaching a drinking fountain, he walked into the wall. He saw two fountains and had gone to the wrong one. After that incident, he revealed that he often saw double, whether he was reading, writing, or playing. Alarmed and desperate for an answer, his family quickly connected his declining academics with the double vision and went looking for answers. His vision was tested at 20/20 but he was diagnosed with a vision processing disorder. Mikey is now in 8th grade and performs at or above grade level in all subjects, and his family attributes that to the skills and tools he learned in Vision Therapy.